We Come Together (To Fall Apart)
by ForPony39
Summary: New Orleans is a vicious place, and as much as he wishes otherwise, Hope shouldn't be here, and yet she can't leave until they figure out the sinister crux of what is happening to her... A chronicle of the mystery, love, frustration, laughter, and heartbreak that is the relationship between the originals and Hope. Slightly AU from end of season 1.
1. Introductions

**What the hell, thought I'd finally write this. It's going to be very varied mood-wise from chapter to chapter, lets have fun and feels! **

**...**

Klaus stood motionless on the roof top of a street side building, hands gripping at the rail, eyes cast down on the streets roiling with tourists and locals alike. The night was alive with life in a way you only ever saw in the French quarter, with people delighting in a taste of the mysterious and the macabre, all edged with just a touch of danger to add to the thrill. He'd been standing like this for some time, trying to find a little peace in the white noise as the sun slowly sank behind the horizon; nothing else had worked. He would soon be adding this to that ever growing list. In the blink of an eye Klaus hopped the rail, taking the long fall to the streets, mingling with the humans in the next breath as if he'd done no more than stepped off a curb – if there was no peace in white noise he'd try drowning in the pulse of the French quarter.

In some ways Klaus was sure that this place was as much immortal as he was. Even after it had been burned to the ground, reduced to smoldering ash and rubble the city had eventually risen again. It went back to pumping people and monsters through her street like veins in the dark, dancing them through the lanterns and lights strewn across buildings and over alley's, thrumming its music straight into their bones so her heart could keep beating. The heart of New Orleans always seemed to find a way to keep beating. An old magic thrived here, a mystery that seemed to draw life of all kinds in.

But sooner or later that draw pulled too hard, and flesh and bone crashed into one another, teeth and claws scraped and shattered together, the perfect, violent storm of death. The French quarter was always eventually refreshed with blood. Only a year ago that blood had run thick through the streets he thought, reminiscing back to when Marcel had lead the vampire uprising that had been violently interrupted by werewolf treachery. Klaus hadn't minded not so long ago that New Orleans was as blood thirsty as he was. But the monsters had turned on him, the witches and the spirits had turned on him, the latter led by his own mother. And suddenly the city he loved had become a killing ground where all the fiends gnashing teeth sought the flesh of his family - of his daughter, Hope. So, being forced to fake her death and send her away mere hours after her birth, he'd gone from an awe of this city's viciousness to something akin to a spiteful glee for it.

This city wanted its pound of flesh? Its share of blood? He'd been sure to give it just that. His enemies littered the ground of New Orleans, blood stained her cobble stones and viscera strung about her French quarter. Oh he had drenched this town with offerings, but he had gallons left to give it seemed. Two years was not enough time to dispatch a thousand years' worth of enemies, nor fully vanquish the most recent ones it seemed. He would need to spill much more blood before this was over. Speaking of blood he required a throat or two before the sun came up, but he could hardly find it in him to eat anyone lately – never had two years in over a thousand felt… so devoid of anything good, save momentary vengeance. Would the day ever come when he tamed this city enough to welcome home his daughter?

As Klaus asked himself this question he realized that his feet had brought him straight to the compound while his mind had been preoccupied. He stood just outside his home for a moment, wondering why he'd walked all the way back here when he knew he needed to feed. Perhaps this new apathy, left in the wake of a collective sixteen months of explosive rages, was getting to him a bit more than usual tonight; his brother certainly seemed to think so. Klaus silently admitted he may be right, he couldn't even convince himself to turn around and go back to the streets for one or two of the many tourists parading around the quarter. He sighed as he walked through the gate and into the court yard of his family home-

And almost immediately knew he was not alone. He came to a stop in the middle of the court yard for a moment, not terribly concerned as he turned in a slow circle. That hungry black spark at his core that thrived on vengeance and violence flickered at the recognition of the steady little beat of someone's heart. Not Elijah's, most definitely not Hayley or Marcel's, none of them would hide their presence from him.

"I have a guest," Klaus said aloud, still turning on the spot with a small crooked smirk. The heart beat quickened and his smirk grew, the black spark stoked to a familiar tongue of flame licking at his insides, quickly growing at the prospect of a fight, and an execution. Perhaps he didn't need to go to the streets for a feed after all…

He listened for the sound of others but only heard the one thudding pulse and determined who ever had come to pay him this visit had forgone back up. Foolish with his temperament of late, he'd lobbed more heads in the last two years than they had in France of 1793.

"One who has come alone it seems. I commend the bravery of it, but not the intelligence."

_There._

He turned to the pillar where the sound of that quick heart beat sounded loudest. The intruder made no other sound, nor did they move from their hiding spot, to attack or introduce themselves. A few moments of silence passed, enough to make Klaus roll his eyes.

"Well let's not stand on ceremony - or behind pillars," he mocked, facing that stone his quarry cowered behind with a thin veneer of calm, his hands clasped behind his back. He heard a small almost inaudible gasp. Oh, this might turn out to be downright_ engaging…_

He was about to put more taunting words in the air between his 'guest' and himself when said guest chose to reveal themselves at last, stepping into view.

His eyes were drawn down to the eye line of a child; a little girl with black curls and bright blue eyes now faced him, a determined look wrinkling her little brow, hands behind her back. She couldn't have been more than seven or eight by his estimation, wearing a little purple shirt, a pair of black Capri pants and a pair of little pink sandals. Klaus was actually genuinely surprised, something he could confidently say he'd not truly experienced in at least a couple of decades. That dark spark in him extinguished in an instant, as did his smirk. It was replaced by... he wasn't entirely sure what he was feeling at that moment but confused was definitely amongst the squabble of his emotions.

"… Hello," the little girl said a bit hesitantly after a moment of mutual gawking.

"Who are you?" Klaus demanded quietly, not returning the greeting. She actually seemed a bit offended by that.

"Who are you?" The girl shot back, as if she had more right to ask it than he did, his eyes narrowed a bit. There was something terribly familiar about her face, yet he was sure he'd never seen her before.

"I think the intruder has to answer first, love," He told her.

"Who made that rule?" She asked, tone bordering insolent.

"Common courtesy."

"Oh, well, I'm not common."

He swore he'd seen that little smile before...

"No, clearly you are lost," he said, taking a step closer, intending to lead her out of his home, possibly back to the tourists that must have lost her. The girl fell back a step almost immediately, face faltering a moment as she seemed to size him and his intentions up. Klaus immediately came to a stop.

"You have nothing to fear from me child," he assured her, tone coming off as slightly amused. It wasn't often he could say that and mean it, it wasn't long ago it would have been an outright lie. He'd given no one quarter all his life, but becoming a father... well it had given him an aversion to hurting children. It was as if his words had flipped some switch in the small girl and he found himself treated to the rather daring glare of a child attempting to stare him down as she took two bold steps towards him.

"I'm not afraid of anything mister, you may be bigger than me but you're not scarier."

Klaus found himself at a loss for words in the face of the absolutely ludicrous statement from a small human, to _him_ of all people. Then before he could help it he was laughing, she was nothing if not audaciously refreshing. Her little heart was thrumming in her chest, calling her statement into question of course, but Klaus chose not to point that out.

"Oh child, _nothing_ is scarier than me," He told her with a sharp smile. "But that is neither here nor there – what are you doing in my home?"

"I'm… looking for someone," She answered a bit evasively. "I have a very important message to give them," She explained further. He found this notion irked him–who sent a child this age out of the house in the French Quarter for anything? If anyone knew how dangerous it really was out there they'd never let their children leave the house. But with how much most people did know of common dangers should know not to let small children out at this hour, either her parents were unaware or useless.

Klaus evaluated the little girl again, how her gaze flickered away from his for a brief moment, how she bit her lip, rocking on her heels slightly.

"Really," he said, tone doubtful of the truth of this. The little girl nodded dutifully.

"And who, may I ask, sends a little girl out alone to deliver a message at two in the morning?" he asked suspiciously. "This is the hour of monsters after all." His smile then exposed a few unnaturally sharp teeth.

He'll admit he was trying to scare her just a little bit now, a fearless child was an ignorant one and ignorance could be the cause of much harm, usually to the child. Why he should care about one little girls wellbeing on the first meeting was beyond him, but the desire was strangely still humming at the back of his mind. She, however, seemed totally unruffled by his words.

"… Night owls," She answered, barely hesitating at the lie and fully ignoring his somewhat chilling last statement.

"Night owls," he repeated, sounding even less convinced than before, but also more intrigued.

"People get very busy at all hours, sir," She said, then seemed to think on something for a moment. "I mean you're just getting home."

Klaus wasn't sure if she was making some implication, but he found himself amused by both the explanation and her attempt to respectfully address him, so he humoured her.

"Well don't keep me in suspense love, what's the message?"

"It's only for the person I'm looking for," She replied, rather sternly for a child.

_Interesting._

"And you thought you'd find that person here?" Klaus asked.

"I think they have a pretty big house and this is, like, the biggest I've seen" she said, looking around the courtyard with wide eyes.

"Is this the first house you've been too?"

"Do lots of people live here?" she countered curiously. He was going to take that as a negative.

"No."

"Then why is it so big? Do you have a lot of stuff?" This little girl was either something of a spaced out rambler or very skilled at deflecting questions.

"Does this person have a name?" Klaus asked, bypassing her questions. She opened her mouth to speak (an answer or a deflection) but she was interrupted by the sound of footsteps and the voice that preceded it.

"There you are," Elijah said, striding through the front gate of the compound towards his brother, as impeccably dressed as usual. "If you could tear yourself away from the calculated chaos you've been instigating I have a few things to…" Elijah trailed off as he spotted the black haired child with big blue eyes. He came to a stop a few feet from Klaus as he stared blankly for a moment. Her eyes bounced between Klaus and Elijah, shoulders tensing. It was clear she wasn't entirely sure she liked being outnumbered.

"Hello," she greeted with that same cautious hesitation.

"…Hello," Elijah replied, giving her that cordial smile of his. His eyes didn't leave her even as he addressed his brother. "Who is this?"

"I haven't the faintest, the child is something of a natural at dodging questions," Klaus replied. "And not terribly forthcoming."

"Is that so?" Elijah said, squatting down to her level, choosing not to approach her.

"I'm Elijah," his brother tried, doing his best to appear nonthreatening. "Would you do us the honour of a name?"

The girl smiled, and it was brighter and more sincere than any he'd seen in a long time. Then she seemed to straighten herself, as if remembering the protocol she'd been taught and rehearsed for this occasion.

"Hello Elijah, I'm very glad to meet you," she said. "I like your suit."

Elijah chuckled a little. "How politely evasive."

Her grin widened. "Thank you," then she paused, brow wrinkling.

"Do you know what evasive means?" Elijah asked.

"No," she answered honestly.

"It means our patience wears thin child," Klaus interjected coolly, growing a bit frustrated by the girl's ambiguousness.

"Forgive my brother, his manners only stretch so far these days," Elijah said, glancing at his brother disapprovingly. Unlike himself, Elijah had always had a soft spot for the young.

"Yes, I'm not as quick to pander to children as our noble Elijah here," Klaus retorted with a bitter smile. Once more the little girl took no notice of his tone.

"Brother?" Her eyes fixed to Klaus now, intent and wide.

"… Klaus?" She asked hesitantly. Elijah and Klaus exchanged a cautious glance.

"You know of us?" Elijah asked. The little girl brushed some of those black locks of hair from her face and said nothing.

Klaus was quite suddenly even less amused. She was searching for him? Who sent a child to deliver a message to _him?_ It reeked of something sly and devious. The tension however had left the little girls shoulders entirely and a new light was shining in those summer sky eyes.

"Why are you here?" Elijah asked a bit equably when she remained silent. The girl held her silence, gaze still hopping between them like she was… well, excited almost.

"Speak freely child, you've nothing to fear from us," Elijah told her, mistaking her silence for fear.

"Oh, this one's not afraid of anything," Klaus cut in, sounding more at ease than he actually was – he was unsure as to what he could now expect from this mystery child. "Scourge of monsters everywhere apparently – here to bring us a message." He expected her to be provoked to some action by his words but she just went on looking at him, like she was seeing him for the first time.

"Not a terribly good messenger at that," Klaus remarked aside to his brother when still she said nothing. "Let's have it then, darling."

"I… lied" she admitted. Neither Elijah nor Klaus responded, though both adopted a manner approaching a semblance of wary. "I don't… I don't really have a message." She appeared almost shy now, taking careful measured steps towards them both before coming to a halt only a few feet away.

"But my name's Hope."

Both Elijah and Klaus froze. _That was not possible…  
><em>Hope smiled brightly up at Klaus like he was some larger than life idol she'd been waiting to meet her whole life.

"I think you're my daddy."

**...**

**Worth continuing? Much luvs everybody!**


	2. Messy Start

**...**

"This is a trick."

Klaus nearly hissed the words as he paced back and forth in front of Elijah, choosing to keep still in the hall entrance of the compound. Both were glancing regularly at the girl claiming to be Hope, sitting at one of the steel wrought tables. Her arms were wrapped around a small dark blue knapsack with unicorns on it she'd left behind the pillar while they'd spoke earlier, looking impatient. The longer she sat there the more she fidgeted while they spoke in quiet harsh words a short distance from her.

"Someone has compelled this _child_-"

"It's _Hope!_"

Klaus glared over his shoulder at the girl who stared back. She gave him a shrug, like she was just giving him some answer she figured he ought to know already. Klaus grabbed Elijah's arm and pulled him further out of her earshot.

"Someone has compelled her to believe she's my daughter," Klaus spat, keeping his voice low, eyes dark with murderous thoughts. He would flay the person who was so bold as to send such a flagrant taunt.

"To what end?" Elijah asked, attempt to sound reasonable ruined only by the thin line of tension running through his voice.

"I don't know, but that child is far too old to be… my daughter." He'd almost said 'Hope' but the name had caught in his throat. It hurt to say her name too much.

Hope was 2 years, 3 months and 19 days old, that girl couldn't be her. Elijah turned those calm, discerning eyes back to the little girl, swinging her legs as she sat impatiently at the table.

"If that is indeed the case the perpetrator chose a very convincing elder double – she has your eyes."

Klaus came to a halt at last in front of his brother and pointed a threatening finger in his face. He opened his mouth as if to rebuke this but no words came out. She did have his eyes, and Hayley's ink black hair. That nagging familiarity at the sight of the child still tugged at him, he'd not seen this girls face before but maybe he'd seen the two that had sired her...

No – that was _not_ Hope, this was some cruel ruse for which he would collect many heads as retribution. He would not be tricked again, he would not allow his desperate wish to lay eyes upon his daughter fool him into recklessly falling into whatever trap this was.

"That's not Hope, it can't be," He found himself repeating to Elijah after a moment.

"I do not claim to know what is going on here brother and I'll admit to being… doubtful at this moment. However, bearing in mind that Hope's very birth was nothing short of miraculous, we should at least consider the possibility."

"My daughter is with Rebekah," Klaus barked "this is a _ploy_.

Just then both heard a very exaggerated sigh, prompting both to glance to the source. It seemed "Hope," had grown tired of sitting by herself. She had put her pack on the table, stood, and was now very purposefully walking towards them.

Klaus's accusing finger swung towards her in an instant, bringing her to an abrupt halt.

"No, go sit," he snapped at the child. Hope made no move to return to where he had hastily seated her earlier.

"I don't want to sit anymore," she replied stubbornly, crossing her arms. Klaus grit his teeth together.

"Go. Sit." He hissed at her through clenched teeth.

"No. Thanks." Hope replied, mimicking his stilted words.

"Do not test me child, sit down or_ I_ will sit you down," Klaus threatened in a voice the belied his foul mood. Impressively the child didn't even flinch.

"Have to catch me first," she told him in a way that heavily implied she did not think him capable of that. "And my name is Hope. H-O-P-E, Hope" Elijah had to work to suppress a smirk.

"Yes, clearly not related," Elijah commented, evoking a glare from Klaus.

"Am so!" Hope said indignantly at the same time. Before she could utter another syllable, or blink, Klaus stood in front of her, glaring down. Hope reeled a bit at the suddenness of his proximity but held her ground.

"Who sent you child?" he demanded, the pupils of his eyes, growing and shrinking as he attempted to compel the truth from the girl.

"Klaus." Elijah's voice turned his name to a warning as he moved carefully towards the pair of them. Hope was returning Klaus's stare with confusion. Then her eyes widened as she seemed to realize. "You… you don't believe me?" she asked him, as if baffled and just a little hurt. Her answer threw him somewhat. She couldn't be compelled? Perhaps the girl had been put on vervain after her initial compulsion.

"Hardly."

"But I'm not lying!"

"Understand," Elijah cut in, stepping closer, watching Klaus carefully and warning him with his eyes to back off. "My niece should be much... younger."

Hope was looking increasingly baffled, and just a little frustrated.

"Well, how old _should_ I be?"

Klaus would not be drawn in again by his enemies, last he'd done that he'd been bound to moonlight rings that still took his strength from him every month, strength he could have used to protect his family. Never again.

"Enough of this." Klaus dropped to one knee in front of her and grabbed her shoulders.

"Tell me who sent you," Klaus demanded harshly.

"Ow!" Hope yipped, his grip a bit too tight on her shoulders. That simple complaint was all it took. Elijah was there in a mind boggling blur of speed, grabbing his brother and throwing him away from Hope – very hard. Klaus went flying and crashed so hard into the opposite wall that the sound of stone cracking split the air, almost as violently as it split the wall before he hit the ground.

Klaus looked up from the ground, eyes that dangerous combination of vampire and wolf. Elijah was standing protectively in front of Hope, one hand held behind him as if to better shield her while his other hand threateningly pointed in Klaus's direction, slits for eyes. Hope had both hands over her mouth, wide eyes going from one man to the other with shock.

"You will control yourself Niklaus or so help me, _I will do it for you_," Elijah said, his voice a formally delivered stab of sharp steel. Klaus climbed to his feet, his posture the telltale sign of his desire to retaliate. That's when a sound froze them all, not out of fear, but rather out of sheer perplexity.

Some upbeat tune had begun to play, too muffled to identify.

"What is that?" Klaus growled. At first no one moved or said anything. Then Hope slowly reached a hand into one of her pant pockets and carefully pulled out a phone.

"Come and get your love" played cheerfully as Hope looked at the caller ID. Her eyes widened to the size of saucer plates as she attempted to shove the phone back into her pocket.

"Ah, ah," Elijah tutted, reaching out a hand for it.

"It's, uh… not… for you," She tried, looking nervous.

"I'm afraid I have to insist."

She hesitated, then darted those few steps between her and Elijah, shoving the phone into his hand as if it were an explosive device seconds away from detonating, taking a big step back. Elijah peered down at the phone ringing out the cheery tune to read the caller ID.

_**Auntie B. **_

Elijah pressed the answer icon before pressing the phone to his ear. And was greeted to the very angry voice of a woman he knew well.

"Hope Mikaelson, you have ten seconds to tell me where you are or so help me I will tan your bloody hide!" His sister's voice carried loudly over the receiver, brimming with worry induced fury. Her voice carried enough that Hope heard even from where she stood, and audibly gulped.

"Rebekah?" Elijah said, not bothering to hide his surprise.

"Elijah?"

Klaus's eyes widened almost as wide as Hope's did. She hadn't been the only one to hear what Rebekah had said. Realizing his sister was on the other line, he gaped at Hope openly, whose attention was still apprehensively fixed on the phone Elijah held.

Hope Mikaelson. How was this possible? Klaus looked to the little girl, as if he were seeing her for the first time, in a way he was. How… _how?_  
>Klaus was there almost instantly, attempting to tear the phone away from Elijah who deftly stepped out of his reach as Rebekah went on.<p>

"Why are you… how…? Oh hell, she's there isn't she?"

"It appears you have a great deal to catch us up on sister."

Klaus finally managed to snatch the phone from his brother to take over the conversation.

"Rebekah, Explanation, _now_."

"Is she ok?" Rebekah demanded, ignoring him.

"The child is fine," Klaus assured her, glancing at the girl who was once again looking offended (was that hurt in her eyes?) by his words.

"It's_ Hope_." Did her lip tremble then?

He turned away uncomfortably, walking a little further from her and his brother to converse with his sister.

"Rebekah it's barely been two years, this girl is at least seven."

"Goddamn it all, that girl _is_ Hope Nik. Listen, I'll explain everything when I get there."

He let himself take that in. His daughter was in New Orleans with him. Part of him was… elated if extremely curious of her. The other part of his terrified, the French quarter was not yet a place for his daughter. "I'm on the road now, I'll be there in one hour," by the sounds of it she was driving at a very dangerous speed.

"How did she get here? Or find me for that matter"

"I don't know, she's supposed to be at a sleep over, I dropped her off at noon. Then I found a note in green crayon pencil in my bed." She sounded frustrated, and tired.

Elijah was motioning for Klaus to hand him the phone but he ignored him. There was a beat of silence between him and his sister.

"Don't you dare do anything to break her heart Nik. Give her the phone will you?" Klaus turned on the spot, Elijah staring at him impatiently.

"She wants to speak to… Hope," he said, looking past Elijah for the little girl.

Who was nowhere in sight.

"Where is she?" Klaus said, heart suddenly beating a little fast in his chest. Elijah looked about, eyes wide.

"Hope?" he called out. No answer. Elijah didn't waste time mincing words, he vanished in a blur of vampire speed as he took to looking for her.

"Nik! Give her the phone." Rebekah ordered impatiently.

"She's… preoccupied at the moment little sister."

"What the bloody hell do you mean preoccupied?!" Rebekah snapped, going on before he could answer.

"Did you do something? Did you _hurt_ her?" Klaus had never really feared his sister before, but at this moment he was coming very close to being so.

"_Niklaus_," she hissed when he did not immediately answer.

"I may have been… a touch harsh with her at first," he admitted, clenching his teeth.

"Good lord. She ran away didn't she?" She sighed. Before he could answer she was speaking again. "Nevermind, she never goes far to hide. Find her and for the love of god brother, find it in that black heart of yours to not alienate your only child."

"Why would she hide?" he asked before disconnecting the call to give the search his full attention. Rebekah's parting answer was cutting as he was sure it was meant to be before she hung up.

"Because Hope never lets anyone see her cry." *click.*

**...**

**We all know Elijah is sweet and protective sometimes, but I just see Klaus as being really resistant to the idea that he's missing out on even more than he thought on his daughters childhood, so I made him a bit of a dick. And lets be honest, as much as I love him, that' s not much of a character stretch. lol. Hope you enjoyed it! **

**Much luvs!**


	3. Hello Hope

**...**

Elijah had not expected it to be so instantaneous, the worry that is. Nor had he been aware of how cruel his own imagination could be until the moment he'd looked to where the young (but not as young he'd assumed) Hope should have been standing, only to find her unexpectedly missing. Suddenly his mind was a storm of all the horrible things that could happen to her while she was out of his sight, looking frantically for her at a speed beyond human comprehension. Elijah and Marcel had never much liked each other, but the one thing they'd continually agreed on was that children should always be off limits to the cruelty of life, even if that was not how the world strictly worked. They were, as it were, both very protective of the young. But this had been different. The moment he'd saw her he'd been struck with familiarity, his brother's eyes staring out at him from a face so like Hayley's. A part of him had known before the rest of him had consciously accepted it. A sudden, unexpected ache thrummed through a hollow space in his chest at the thought.

_Hayley…_

Elijah looked under a desk in the study as his hand reached for the cell in his pocket before he'd even decided to make the call, already pressing the number on his speed dial even as he continued to scour all the low places he expected a child to hide in.

_She should know…_

The line rang twice before going to voice-mail, but he hadn't expected anything less. He hadn't expected it for a year now as he listened to the voice he hadn't truly heard since the first year they'd sent Hope away with Rebekah.

"You know what to do." *beep*

"Hayley." He stopped searching for just a moment after he said her name, unsure how to continue. What could he safely say on this line and convince her to come? He could obviously make no direct mention of her child...

"We need you to come back to the compound. It's urgent." Another long pause.

"I can't discuss the matter over the phone but… I understand that you've no wish to return or you would have done so already, this is no ruse to simply bring you here. However this is a matter you must attend to in person – Immediately." Elijah decided a good hint at least was necessary to draw her back here.

"We have hope that you'll get this in time." That was the most he was willing to risk on this message. He sighed, standing in the middle of the study, his eyes closing briefly with only the static hiss of the open line in his ear. It was a silence for words he could never find it in him to say.

_This place is so much vastly emptier without you here. _In his mind, he rarely meant the compound.

"… Please come home." He hung up then, unsure of what else he could say.

And that's when he heard a rustle. It was a small sound, someone perhaps slightly shifting their position, but it was enough. Elijah listened harder, the sound of a muffled sniffle, the beat of a tiny heart… above him?  
>He looked up curiously, not moving, hardly breathing as he listened and his eyes searched the rafters above him till he spotted a certain beam, one wide enough and large enough that a child could most definitely lie on it and go unseen. Elijah smiled, relief flooding through him to have found her safe, his cruel imagination silenced in an instant.<p>

"I must admit," Elijah said after a minute. "I'm curious to know how it is you climbed into the rafters. And how you plan to get down." At first there was only silence. Then very quietly a voice replied.

"I'm a good climber."

"Evidently," Elijah agreed, eyes locked on the 'talking' beam. A quick sweep of his gaze did little to further enlighten him as to how she'd done it, he did not see a terribly easy way a child could have gotten to such a hiding place. "Dare I venture to say exceptional even." There was another muffled sniffle, then, slowly, the top of her head appeared from out over the wooden beam, slightly puffy blue eyes looking down at him.

"Everybody looks low, not many look up," she told him, like it was some secret she'd learned a long time ago. Considering he'd been doing just that in his search for her he could hardly argue.

"Very astute. So, how did you plan to get down?" he asked again, turning away to pull his brother's chair out from behind the desk, sitting down and looking up to the beam she peeked out from.

"Same way you got up?" he asked conversationally.

"… I could," She answered, watching him.

"But you don't plan too," he inferred quickly.

"Depends."

"On what?"

"How fast I haveta get down." He saw a little mischievousness in her eyes then and it almost made him reflexively smirk, definitely his niece

"Ah, I see. Always good to keep one's options open… I do apologize for the reception you received downstairs." There was a brief silence after his words.

"… That means you're sorry how you guys met me, right?" she clarified a little unsurely.

"Yes."

"… I like how you said it. You talk nice. "

He smiled wider. "Thank you."

"… I thought it'd be different," she told him, sounding subdued in a way that was distinctly sad.

"To be fair Hope, so did we," Elijah told her sympathetically. She perked up almost instantly.

"You called me Hope."

"Well," Elijah began, reaching over to help himself to his brother's scotch, pouring it from its crystal decanter into the empty glass next to it. "That is your name as I'm to understand it."

"So… you believe me?" she asked, poking her head out a little further. Elijah picked up the glass and swirled the amber liquid inside it around as he spoke.

"I do. Did you run away because we doubted you?" he asked. She shrunk back from sight once more, making Elijah curse internally for a moment.

"I didn't run away," her voice denied adamantly, "I… wandered. Quickly."

_Do not laugh Elijah, do_ not_ laugh..._

"Of course, forgive me." There had been so little good in the past few years that he'd scarcely laughed in that whole time. He felt as if his family had become strangers in that time, violently going about their lives but not really living. Hope had been here for less than a half hour and in her presence, a majority of the time, he found it hard _not_ to smile or laugh. There was a shifting of shadows in his peripherals then, and he was surprised to find Klaus standing like a silent shadow in the doorway. He wasn't sure how long his brother had been there but it was clear he'd been there for at least a few minutes. He made no move to enter the room, he was like a statue of blood and flesh haunting the thresh hold. Their eyes met for a brief moment and Elijah understood in that moment that there may not have been a force on earth that could have pushed Klaus over it. He was being careful now, treading lightly, the avid observer so as not to screw up his second chance at approaching his only child.

"He doesn't," Hope said, her quiet statement drawing Elijah's attention back to her hiding place. Klaus strained his neck to look with him without stepping into the room.

"Sorry, who doesn't what?" he asked, knowing full well who she meant as he glanced to Klaus.

"My… Klaus doesn't believe me."

Elijah watched his brother's jaw tighten at the words, brows drawing together. His expression exposed the disarray of emotion inside him. Klaus looked uncomfortable, out of his element, hurt that his child felt the need to call him by name when it was clear she wanted to call him father, frustrated and afraid that, in the short time he'd know his daughter, he may have already done damage. Not sure how to fix it if he had.

Hope's face poked over the edge of the beam again and Elijah directed his gaze back to her, giving no indication of Klaus's presence. Her face was dry, only the slight puffiness of her eyes indicating she had shed any tears at all.

"I thought he would," she confided.

"He might now," Elijah encouraged.

"How do you know?"

He didn't look at Klaus then, but he could feel his brother's eyes on him as well.

"I have a certain intuition about these kinds of things, they're very reliable I assure you. "

"… Can you read minds?"

"How about you come down?" Elijah tried, hoping to make some more headway with her. "My neck is becoming a little sore from looking up so high." Hope bit her lip for a minute as she looked down at him, scrutinizing him in a way he didn't often see children do; like she was weighing him out in some way he wasn't entirely sure he understood.

"Ok," she agreed at last.

Elijah had expected her to carefully make her way down, but that was not her style apparently. Hope jumped.  
>More accurately, she rolled off the beam and fell, without hesitation; like she'd done it a hundred times before and had always landed on her feet.<p>

This time she didn't reach the ground. Elijah had not thought a force on this earth could push his brother into the room, but apparent there was one which could pull him in - Parental instinct. He caught Hope long before she could hit the ground, hands speeding forward to clasp under both her arms in a move that was oddly elegant.

For a brief second Hope looked confused when her feet didn't touch the ground, then seemed to realize someone had caught her. When she saw who her eyes widened. Neither one moved, neither spoke, Elijah watched as both sort of just… froze.  
>Hope and Klaus stared at each other as he held her out, her arms splayed out like a scarecrow as he held her at his eyeline. It looked as if either didn't really know what to do next, to the point where it was very nearly comical.<p>

Slowly, in a way that was _entirely_ comical, Hope turned her head to look at Elijah. Her bewildered expression begged the question 'what do I do!?'  
>Elijah had no answer for her, just a reassuring nod.<p>

Klaus was first to actually do something, gently lowering his daughter to her feet.

"Don't do that again," Klaus said as she stared up at him, saying the first thing that came to mind, his heart beating a little faster in his chest.

"Do what?" she asked.

"Jump like that, you could have broken your leg." She was so tiny after all, were all children this small and fragile looking? Hope looked to where she'd been hiding, measuring the distance with her eyes.

"I've fallen farther than that." Hope sounded very close to bragging, actually rolling her eyes. Silence between them again, Elijah found it almost painful just to watch as he took a sip of scotch.

Apparently he wasn't the only one.

"This is weird," Hope said, in that blunt manner that only children seemed able to pull off. Elijah had seen his brother look awkward very few times in their long life time, but as Klaus opened his mouth, shifting on the spot with no words coming out, eyes flying about the room as if he might find the words around him _somewhere, _he could say this was one of those rare moments.

Hope watched her father struggle for a few moments. Then she darted past him and out the door. Elijah sighed, already getting up to go after her as Klaus looked like he was going to put his fist through something. That's when she darted right back into the room, quickly going to stand in front of Klaus again.  
>Klaus looked warily confused for a moment, just before Hope reached out a hand to him.<p>

"Hello, my name's Hope." There was brief pause before a small smile spread over Klaus's face. He reached out and took her small, outstretched hand in his.

"Hello Hope."

...


	4. Gods And Acrobats

...

Klaus discovered early that the only thing that matched Hope's somewhat hyper nature was the inquisitiveness that fueled it. She seemed to need to keep herself moving, whether it was darting around the room, rocking on her heels as she stopped long enough to look at something and even when she periodically sat one or both of her legs would keep right on bouncing. Upon Elijah's suggestion they had given her a tour of the compound as a way of relaxing her a bit; Klaus had not failed to notice that Hope maintained a buffer distance between both he and his brother. Elijah was better at keeping up with Hope's… odd conversation skills, easily flowing with her from random topic to random topic. Klaus was having less success than Elijah in that department, which actually really annoyed him and made him feel like shoving his brother off a ledge. Yet every time Hope looked at him like he made the sunshine as she shared some odd little accomplishment under her belt with him he found the feeling abated somewhat. Now they had come to the library, and much like every other room they'd visited he was left watching her go about it, investigating every nook and cranny, all while still managing to hold her slightly manic conversation with Elijah and himself.

It had taken some time but they finally got her to a stage where instead of insistently dodging questions and only speaking on inane topics of no consequence (which Klaus was beginning to suspect was something close to being strategically vague) to things of a bit more substance, such as how she'd gotten here.

"-So with the hard part done, I waited until he turned his back," she explained, relating the tale at last. "And then I just climbed into the place where all the people put their stuff in before they go sit in the bus seats," she finished, running her fingers along the spines of all the books she could reach on his shelf, one by one.

"These are nice, have you read them all?"

"You rode here in the baggage compartment of a bus," Klaus reiterated, trying to keep her on topic and not at all pleased by that revelation, exchanging a look with his brother that was more or less disapproving. He was unable to help being more than a little impressed, However, that sounded dangerous, was that dangerous? He had long ago lost anything to gauge such a thing by, his immortality had desensitized him to life's perils.

"That sounds… terribly uncomfortable," Elijah added as the silence began to stretch a little thin. "It was loud and dark, but I just listened to my ipod," she shrugged. "Plus, I'm super flexible, I'm gonna be an acrobat when I grow up. That or a bird," She added.

"A bird?" Klaus repeated. "Love you can't become a bird," He explained reasonably.

"Auntie bex says I can be anything I want to be," she answered stubbornly, skipping over to the wood desk and running her hands over the smooth polished surface.

"I don't think she meant you could grow feathers and wings."

"I don't think she _not_ meant I couldn't grow feathers and wings," Hope replied airily, just a hint of argumentativeness in her voice. This was not exactly his idea of getting better foothold in a conversation with his daughter but he found himself oddly determined to get some traction between her and reality.

"In that case I suppose I'll aspire to be a god," Klaus said, not terribly conservative with that brand of sarcasm unique to him. Hope, as she had done multiple times already, ignored the sarcasm and instead took him at his word, eyes widening like he'd just opened a door she'd never even considered existed.

"Whoa, you can do that?"

"Of course n-"

"That is the best idea ever, can I be all those things?"

Well he'd marvelously screwed this attempt up.

"I believe your father was being facetious," Elijah tried, but Hope wasn't exactly listening as she turned and darted to another book shelf as she exclaimed, "Imma be an acrobat-bird-god!"

"Hope, you can't become a bloody bird!" Klaus called after her, sounding frustrated.

"Klaus, if you could take a moment to take stock of this argument," Elijah interrupted on a sigh.

It was his brother's fancy way of saying "You are arguing with a seven year old about the legitimacy of transforming into fowl."

Before he could argue the point that he was merely educating Hope, enlightening her on how the world actually worked outside the apparent delusions she was operating under (for the best, silly dreams did no one any good in this world) when she changed the subject.

"Do you have crowns?" she asked abruptly. "Auntie Bex says you're great kings, but I didn't see your crowns anywhere."

"Glad to hear our sister speaks so highly of us," Elijah said aside to Klaus who was taking a deep breath as his eyes rolled to the ceiling. Why was this so bloody difficult?

"Is it because that skanky lady took them?" Hope asked, peering out the window for a moment before looking back at them. Klaus was almost abruptly pulled from the previous frustration into amusement. How his daughter did that he was wholly perplexed by.

"Even better how she speaks of our enemies," Klaus said, breaking into a crooked grin.

Hope looked away and up to a high shelf, an expression crossing her face as if she may just find them up there. She was half way to the top before Klaus or Elijah could move. For someone without vampire speed Hope moved very fast. Luckily, Klaus did have vampire speed, and was there before she could climb much higher.

"No crowns up there love," he said as he plucked her (gently, god she was so bloody tiny) from the shelf and put her back on the floor.

"And your feet have to stay on the ground while your here."

"But I can't see everything when I'm on the ground," she said, sounding surreally reasonable for a seven year old.

"Do you need to see everything?" Elijah asked. Hope leaned to look past Klaus and gave him a "what kind of question is that?" look that was so purely Rebekah he wondered how either of them had doubted Hope's familial ties.

"Of course I do."

It was then, during their light and perfectly mundane conversation, that Klaus saw it.

A small bruise on the back of her arm.

It was tiny, not even that dark really, something he imagined she had perhaps gotten on her journey here after a bit of a bump in the road. And yet it put an ice in his gut so sudden he might have wondered if something were physically wrong with him had he not been an original vampire.

"What happened here?" Klaus demanded a bit more intensely than he meant to fingers encircling her arm to pull it closer and get a better look at it. Hope tensed a bit at his tone and touch but didn't pull away from his grip, twisting her head to see the bruise he referred to.

"I dunno," she said, shrugging dismissively the injury obviously not warranting much of her concern.

But this was not some trivial injury in the slightest. Hope's blood had healed Hayley while she'd carried her, her blood had turned her mother when she'd been killed by witches shortly after her birth.

But Hope herself apparently didn't heal. Much like most of what he was seeing about his daughter, _that didn't make any sense._

If she didn't heal it meant killing her would be literal child's play for anyone, a bloody accident could kill her. That small bruise meant so many troubling things and forced him to ask even more troubling questions. Did this mean she could become ill? Was she even immortal? Did she age normally? Appearing to be seven after only two years lead him to ask another question that made him feel something he'd not experienced since the last time he'd seen his father – terror.

Did that mean she aged even faster than average humans? Did that mean in ten years she could be an old woman and in twelve years dead?

"Doesn't hurt though," Hope tried to assure him, as apparently he was not hiding his emotions well enough at that moment. She pulled her arm from his numb grip and poked the small bruise to prove her statement.

"See, nothing at all," she said with a reassuring smile. "I'm actually _super_ tough."

Klaus exchanged a glance with Elijah and he knew that the implication of her slight injury was not lost on him, his shoulders too tense, lips pressed together in a thin, tight line.

"Another topic Rebekah will hopefully shed light on," Elijah said quietly, almost as if to assure them both she would have an explanation that would put them both at ease. Klaus did not feel at ease, nor his brother's confidence he would find such assurances from Rebekah. Right on cue the sound of tires squealing on pavement as someone slammed hard on the breaks outside the compound was followed shortly by the slamming of a car door hard enough that actual damage was likely done to the vehicle.

"Ah, I believe that would be our beloved sister now," Klaus said tightly. Hope's eyes widened as she for the first time in an hour, went completely still. She gulped as her eyes flittered about like she was subconsciously looking for a place to hide.

"Perhaps some interference would be best, no?" Elijah sighed, disappearing out of the room to go meet her in all her likely fury.

Klaus was at a bit of a loss in that moment as he looked down at his daughter, staring at the door apprehensively. This was it, the little time he had with his daughter was quickly drawing to an end.

With so many questions left to answer, with his daughter's future even more uncertain that before, he found himself torn, and in a place he couldn't accurately describe.

He wanted her to stay, he wanted her to go. He was afraid to have her close, he was afraid for her to be out of his sight.

When she looked up at him, so clearly the product of Hayley and himself, it broke his heart and made him whole all at once. It was confusing and painful, that combination had proven dangerous in him before. He called upon every century he had of practice to smooth the emotions broiling inside him from his face, leaving him standing over his daughter with his hands clasped behind his back, coming off as somewhat robotic.

_She's better off far from here, just for now..._

He opened his mouth to say his second goodbye, but didn't get the chance to say anything.

"Uh… do you think she's less mad or more mad since she found out I came here?" Hope asked nervously. Klaus closed his mouth, thrown by the question and her entire demeanor: A poorly constructed brave face, a little defiant, just a touch sheepish - but not sad, or regretful. It was like the idea that they were about to part had not even occurred to her, even like she might dare someone to tell her otherwise. Strong willed this one, it chased some of the gloom from his mood and made him forget his fears for a moment.

"Come love, I thought you weren't afraid of anything?" he said with a smirk, putting a hand on her back and steering her to the door.

"I'm not!"

The compound gate squealed as someone took to tearing it near off its hinges while entering the courtyard.

"_Hope Mikealson!_"

Hope dug her heels into the carpet the second Rebekah's incensed voice reached her, looking up to Klaus with far too wide eyes.

"I-lied-please-hide-me."

"I'm afraid you've made your bed darling, the time has come to lie in it," Klaus said, pressing her to keep moving forward.

"Easy for you to say!" Hope squeaked, feet sliding over the carpet as she refused to pick up her feet, leaning back in an effort to halt them both.

"Pick up your feet Hope," Klaus said firmly. Hope let out an exasperated sigh before she reluctantly stopped resisting and started walking, albeit very slowly.

"_Where is she Elijah!?"_

"Oh god I'm so dead," Hope muttered apprehensively under her breath as she and Klaus went to meet Rebekah, in all her maternal fueled fury.

**...**

**I never seem to get to a planned point by any chapter, my muse is such a pain in the ass like that. Thanks for reading!**


	5. Blinking out

**Finally back everyone! Let's get to it!**  
><strong>...<strong>

It appeared to Klaus that his daughter not only excelled in talking without saying much, but also in dawdling – deliberately prolonging their walk to meet Rebekah. Both could clearly hear her agitated voice carrying from the courtyard.

"I got here all on my own," Hope told him then, sounding just a little frantic.

"You've said."

"And I found you and Uncle Elijah all by myself."

"You did."

"And I'm ok, I didn't get hurt at all!" And such a thing, he was acutely aware, was only by the grace of god, if there was one.

"I know an attempt to plead a case when I hear one, little bird," he said, pressing his hand a little more firmly against her back to hurry her down the hall. "I suggest you save it for your aunt."

"Have you _met_ Auntie Bex?" Hope asked incredulously, looking up at him.

"Well, you'll notice I never said it would do you much good," he told her, obviously feigning pity as he steered her down the final set of stairs. He was pretending these next moments weren't precious few he had with her, it made them easier to enjoy. Hope squinted up at him with a hard frown like she was trying to figure out if he was making fun of her or not.

Both rounded the last corner into the court yard then, revealing Rebekah standing before a tense Elijah like the embodiment of a gathering hurricane. They looked on the verge of a vicious argument. Rebekah's head snapped away from Elijah before Klaus and hope had moved half a step further into sight. Her eyes briefly locked with Klaus's before flicking down to a nervous Hope, who gave a sheepish wave.

"Hi auntie Bex."

Klaus had never seen tension flee his sister so quickly, it was certainly the fastest he'd ever seen a combative anger vanish for a single moment as she stepped past Elijah. She was quite suddenly on one knee in front of Hope with her arms wrapped tightly around her.

"Damnit Hope," Rebekah snapped, voice sound more than a little choked with emotion. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?" she demanded, pulling back and holding Hope in a firm grip by her shoulders.

"I'm ok though, look at how ok I am!" Hope said, gesturing to herself from head to toe. "I made it here fine! You worry too much!" Rebekah ignored this and instead looked up to Klaus. He wasn't afraid to let her see he was angry – Hope should never should have made it all the way here, his sister should have had safeties in place for this kind of thing he thought venomously.

"We have much to discuss sister."

"You have no idea," she acknowledged; then she asked "How?"

Funnily enough he knew exactly what she wanted to know.

"Apparently in the baggage store of a bus," Klaus told her, glancing to Hope who turned to him like he'd just committed some betrayal against her. Klaus had two to three seconds to watch the anger fill Rebekah's eyes and then she was gone, a vanishing blur.

Hope glanced around in confusion before her eyes turned to saucer plates in her face.

"Oh crap," Hope whispered, shrinking a little as if preparing for pain. Klaus opened his mouth to speak but he didn't even get the chance – Rebekah returned, holding a pitcher of water (where she'd gotten it he didn't have a clue) and dumped the entire thing over Hope's head. Her shriek would have been deafening to those with _normal_ hearing. Klaus and Elijah just stared at the pair, not sure how to react to either. Rebekah examined her handy work, Hope dripping wet, hands clenched in fists as she glared spitefully back at her aunt with all the venom a seven year old could muster. (Quite a lot as it turned out)

"… Was that strictly necessary?" Elijah asked after a moment.

"Don't," Rebekah hissed, not even turning to address him. "And don't you _dare_ give me that look young lady, I should throw you in a bloody pool for the stunt you just pulled! Now apologize."

"No," Hope snapped back stubbornly.

"Not a wise choice," Elijah muttered. Klaus could only agree, already taking a step back to avoid back splash.

Rebekah vanished again only to return with a freshly refilled pitcher, once more mercilessly dumping it over Hope's head again. Hope squealed as she wiped the water from her face furiously, stomping her foot with a sound much like a frustrated puppy growling.

"Would you like to go for three?" Rebekah asked, holding the empty pitcher aloft to emphasize her point.

"I'm not sorry for coming!" Hope declared adamantly, shaking her head vigorously enough to send droplets of water flying.

_Oh yes,_ Klaus thought, _definitely my daughter._

"You lied to me, you ran away to a strange and very dangerous city and went wandering alone at night through it to find people you knew nothing about. I was worried out of my mind! If you are not sorry about that, Hope Mikealson,_ I swear you will be soon._"

Hope's fists unclenched as she seemed to forget her indignation and remember rather that she was, in point of fact, the one in the wrong here. She averted her eyes from her aunt's intense glare then at last.

"… I'm sorry about that stuff, and that I made you worry lots," Hope amended quietly after a moment. "But… but I'm not sorry I made it here!" she asserted stubbornly. "The other stuff, yes. Getting here, no," she reiterated. The little girl postured as if trying to look as firm as she sounded, ruined a bit when she kept bounced between crossing and uncrossing her arms, seeming unable to decide whether or not that helped or hindered that image.

"You are so bloody grounded." Rebekah took a deep breath, held it and let it go before addressing Klaus again.

"I've got some dry clothes for her, I'll change her, we can talk and then we'll go."

"But I don't want to go!" Hope pouted. Rebekah shot her niece a look and Hope's eyes immediately averted her feet, instantly silent.

"I'll fetch a towel," Elijah offered.

* * *

><p>Elijah and Rebekah escorted the freshly dried and changed Hope to the guest room two doors down from the lounge where Klaus had reluctantly announced he'd meet them.<p>

"Stay here, if you set one foot outside this door-" Rebekah began.

"You'll have to pipe sunlight into my room for all eternity," Hope finished, as if this were a threat she heard often.

"Bloody right." Rebekah hesitated only a moment before she reached forward and pulled Hope into her arms. "I'm glad you're okay, love." Elijah could tell his sister was loath to let Hope out of her sight even as she let her niece go and closed the door.

Rebekah sighed and turned to Elijah.

"I suppose me shouting at you earlier hardly constitutes a proper hello, does it?" Elijah gave a demure shrug.

"Our family has a staggering long history of worse ways to greet each other." She smiled earnestly at that.

"It's good to see you brother." He opened an arm to signal she precede him which she mistook as an invite to hug him and wrapped her arms around him. She heard his guff of surprise before he returned the hug and chuckled. It was good to see him.

"Shall we?" he said as she pulled away after a moment.

"I suppose we better," she huffed, making towards the lounge with Elijah falling into step beside her.

"Interesting little chastisement method," Elijah said offhandedly, referring to the water trick as they both made to join Klaus in the lounge two rooms down.

"Well it works, she's stubborn like her mother."

"And her father. And her aunt," Elijah added with a small smile. "Safe to say she comes by it quite honestly. What made you resort to water if I may ask?"

Something flashed across Rebekah's face then, some phantom pain left by old memories. "I wanted an alternative to how we were… disciplined."

Elijah stiffened, nodding slowly in understanding. They'd all had enough of beatings from their father hadn't they? And none more so than Klaus. He found a lightness in his heart he didn't expect at seeing how his sister refused to pass down the tradition.

"You would have made a wonderful mother Rebekah." He must have caught her off guard with that one because he swore the surprise on her face was followed swore by misty eyes before she turned her face away to observe something down the hall.

"I suppose I can make do with being the world's best aunt," Rebekah said as they rounded the corner into the lounge.

"_Extremely liberal use of any such title if I ever heard one." _Klaus stood there waiting, leaning against the sofa, arm crossed and eyes dark, a near empty glass of scotch clutched in his hand. He had that stillness about him that his siblings had come to instantly recognise as dangerous – like a rattle snake about to strike.

"I left Hope in your hands sister, she should never have gotten this far," He said it so quietly, so calmly that it chilled like the touch of ice. Elijah had the simultaneous urge to take a defensive stance between his siblings as if preparing for violence while sighing; too soon the peace between them all seemed to vanish.

"Wonderful to see you too brother, and that you still wear self-righteousness so poorly," Rebekah shot back, voice laced with that sugary, sarcastic venom of hers.

"Do you think this is a joke?" Klaus snarled.

"She asks for you, Hayley and Elijah _daily_ Nik. If Hope wants something badly enough she finds a way to get it, this inevitable."

Klaus was momentarily sidetracked by the idea of his child so insistently inquiring after him but swiftly found his anger pushing this tidbit aside.

"This is your excuse? She's clever and willful?" Klaus threw his glass away so it shattered against the opposite wall. "My daughter's head would be gleefully sought out to be put on a pike if it were known she was alive, Rebekah, your will should trump a child's! No matter how clever!"

"Enough," Elijah cut in, voice firm as he stepped between his siblings. "May I remind you that your child is two doors down the hall and far from deaf?"

As Elijah suspected that did much to douse some of the animosity building in the room. "I think there are far more important things to discuss here than who's at fault for Hope's successful pilgrimage to The French Quarter." He moved so he was closer to Klaus as he directed a calm look at Rebekah. "Such as an explanation for her advanced age, or why she doesn't appear to heal like us?"

Rebekah and Klaus shared another glare before he waved his arm, as if giving her leave to answer the question with an arrogance that never ceased to amaze her.

"By all means, fill us in," Klaus almost ordered.

"Unbelievable," she muttered, rolling her eyes as she went and dropped into the leather loveseat on the other side of the couch, forcing her brothers to follow her.

"She doesn't heal – why?" Klaus asked.

"She used to but after… listen, to answer that question I have to answer why she's older than she should be," she said, pinching the bridge of her nose as Klaus nodded.

"It started when she was six months," she began. "I was laying her down for an afternoon nap, I turned to grab one of her stuffed animals for her and when I looked back she was… gone."

"What do you mean gone?" Klaus growled, refusing to sit.

"I mean gone brother, she vanished. It was only for five minutes but I was instantly frantic, I searched the whole house in a frenzy. I'd just begun dialing you when I heard crying. I found her in the kitchen, only she was… older. This child was at least two, and dirty, but she had her birthmark on the back of her neck, it was definitely Hope," Rebekah explained, swiping her hand across her face to clear a few strands of her blond hair from her face as she continued.

"I called one of my trusted witch contacts immediately. She couldn't bloody explain it at first and after six months we'd gone back to our old routine. Then it happened again, she was gone a little longer this time, seven minutes tops, when she reappeared again she was even older, four she told me." Rebekah looked lost in the story, as if it were a film replaying in her mind.

"The most my witch has been able to figure out is that she's disappearing somewhere else where time… flows differently. We don't know how or why. We tried everything but all we could really do in the end was cast a seal to impede the disappearances, make them less frequent, always less than three minutes. I got better at recognising certain signs before she'd disappear. She'd have less energy a few days prior and tire easily, she gets agitated and jumpy. I thinks she knows when she's about to blink out too."

It was almost like Elijah and Klaus weren't there at all, Rebekah looking almost past her brothers as if at some far horizon lay behind them with a clue, relaying all of this to thin air like it would help her figure it all out herself.

"Does she remember where she's gone to once she returns?" Elijah asked.

A flash of unease seemed to snap her back to the present moment at the question, drawing her gaze up to her brothers who were still standing before her.

"What did she say?" Klaus asked at once, his stomach already beginning to drop at what she may say. Rebekah didn't answer immediately, eyes sliding away from them both briefly.

"I only ever got one thing out of her about it, she won't tell me anything else and if I push she shuts down," Rebekah told them, reluctant to share this next bit.

"Where does she say she goes, Rebekah?" Klaus demanded.

"… She says she walks the dark place."

Silence fell so thick and physical it seemed to compress Klaus and Elijah's insides.

"My child has inherited someone's sense of theatrics it seems."

"That is not funny," Rebekah hissed.

"My daughter is regularly falling into a twilight zone - I am not laughing," Klaus said stonily, taking a seat in the couch across from Rebekah at last. He'd aimed to get more answers and he was left reeling with only more, very unsettling, questions. Elijah was now pacing the room, his expression intensely uneasy as he seemed to mull over everything Rebekah had told them. How could she know so little after dealing with this for two years? Klaus couldn't help but feel his sister had not tried hard enough, which he knew deep down may be unreasonable, but at the moment it was hard to see that. "We need to know more, it cannot be that hard to get information from a child, sister."

Rebekah threw up her hands at that. "Well then why don't you give it a try, you condescending wanker?"

"What does this have to do with her not healing like us?" Elijah cut in before either could escalate into another pointless argument. Since it was a question Klaus wanted answered as well he bit his tongue.

"She heals slower each time she comes back, she heals hardly any faster than a human at this point," Rebekah finished.

"How could you not call us about something like this?" Elijah demanded.

"So you could have done what exactly Elijah? Worry and fret? There was nothing either of you could do, me and my witch are doing every-bloody-thing that can be done." She put her head in her hand for a moment, took a deep breath and let it out as both her brothers burned holes in her with their gazes alone.

"This is not a matter we can afford to be in the dark about," Klaus announced, standing and moving to his desk as he spoke.

"If that is all your witch has been able to find out we need better witches," he rounded his desk and touched the hidden latch under it to pop out the hidden drawer that held his mother's grimoire.

"A coven if that's what is called for."

"We cannot afford that kind of exposure Niklaus, the world still needs to believe your daughter is dead," Elijah argued.

"Who would believe that seven year old child is my daughter when the babe the French quarter knew about died but two years earlier, Elijah?"

"You are not seriously suggesting what I think you are Nik." Rebekah sounded the farthest thing from amused. But he was; his daughter needed him, she needed them all right now. Whatever was happening here with her was heading nowhere good and he refused to let it continue in that direction a second longer if he could help it. Klaus had done nothing but systematically wipe his enemies from the face of New Orleans for two years. There were more to deal with of course, dangerous enemies not to be written off, but he'd all but purged the French Quarter. Not a single foe had dare cross into his killing grounds for the past six months, even vengeful little Davina had fled across the river for the time being. A short stay at the compound to deal with this undeniably serious issue surely could not be completely off the table?

"This problem needs all the resources we can throw at it, resources we have here."

"You yourself said our enemies would not hesitate to put Hope's head on a pike if they came to know she were alive," Elijah said, shaking his head.

"Is the threat of my daughter blinking from existence one day and not returning not a more pressing concern? We can protect her here for a short while to figure this out and put an end to it." Klaus stared down at the grimoire he held in his hands, the leather bound cover warming in his hands. He thought back on the wretched harpy they'd all called mother once and found himself, again, pleased the other side had fallen as it had – he hoped his mother had felt the place burn before she'd fallen with it. It was less than she deserved for going after his child. Now her knowledge would be put to use saving the blood she'd tried to spill.

"And should we find a responsible party for what is happening to Hope, I will educate them in things far worse than death."

* * *

><p>Hope had already explored every corner of this room, all its high places, and hiding spots. If anything happened she'd already found places all over this big house where she could hide and the fastest way to get there should any bad things happen. You always had to be ready for bad things to happen – even in this place. Thing was she knew it was safe here (it was always safe here) and she wanted to see more. So the only thing left to searching really was to satisfy her burning curiosity about this place, and to see all the fascinating things in it (The light with crystals hanging in the library was the prettiest thing she'd ever seen). This house was huge (what if it went on forever?) and she wanted to know every corner of it. So now she stood in front of the door her aunt had closed some time ago, frowning. If there had been a window it would have been perfect, because that wasn't a door and she could set foot outside it without breaking Auntie Bex's rule.<p>

She wasn't allowed to set foot outside this door but…  
>Hope turned the door knob and pushed the door so it swung open before poking her head out. Everything was so big here, even the ceilings went on forever she thought, looking up in awe. She could hear voices not far down the hall from her, she hadn't been down that way yet, she'd definitely have to explore that way later. That's when she… <em>felt <em>something. Her brow wrinkled as she looked around. Hope had never "felt" like this before, but… someone was coming. Hope looked down the opposite end of the hall from where the voices of everybody was, because whoever was coming was going to come out from around that corner, and soon. Hope looked at her feet, frustrated she couldn't run out and just go see who it was. She decided on a compromise and grabbed the door frame tightly with one hand, leaning out the door, straining to see. She heard something down that way too now, like footsteps. Normally she'd be more wary of who was coming, but this was a safe place, so she didn't have to worry too much. She strained to lean out even further (feet sill in the room) hanging out of the room by one arm to get the first glimpse possible as the footsteps drew closer and closer-

That's when Hope's hand slipped on the door frame. She tried to reclaim her hold but she was out too far and she ended up falling face first in the carpet with a "Gah!" and then a loud "Umph!"

The sound of voices down the other end of the hall fell silent just as Hope heard the footsteps turn the corner and halt. At first Hope didn't move, then she lifted her head slowly from the carpet to look to the newest arrival; and suddenly that feeling inside her made sense. Not in a way she could readily have explained to anyone, but it was knowing. A strong connection that was just… simple, powerful knowing. Because she knew who the woman was, standing there staring at her. Even though she couldn't say she'd ever seen her before, with her long black hair, and big brown eyes that had just a touch of iron in them. Hope took it all in, her black jacket and loose fitting navy blue and white striped shirt, black leggings and leather boots, her hand covering her mouth like she was trying to smother some sound. She looked back at Hope, sprawled out in the hallway (feet still in the room) a few feet away like she didn't know what to make of her. There was silence for what felt like a really long time before Hope smiled at the woman.

"Hi mommy."

**...**

**Alrighty! At last all the ground work has been laid and we can get into the meaty fun of the story! Feel free to leave me a review, much luvs everyone!**


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